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"It's the (Backblaze) restores that fail."

seankilleen.com

11–20 of 55 posts

Re: "It's the (Backblaze) restores that fail."

#12

I wonder whether it's a header or an index on the compressed file, or the data itself that's damaged. Still not something you want from your backups.

Correct. They appear to basically zip the data using 7-zip and then transfer it, but I'm not sure what sort of hashing/checking they do to make sure the file makes it to me successfully. Very possible that the next time I download the 6GB file it will work. But given how long it takes to do that, 1) I'd like to know it will work and 2) tougher for me to consider utilizing the free option of doing this for all ~400 GB…

Coming from working in IT support, it's frustrating to me that you've made a big public ordeal over something that, firstly was fixed by rebooting your PC, and secondly you haven't tried downloading the file a second time. I'm not necessarily defending Backblaze here, but posting this when it doesn't work quite right the first time seems a bit harsh. I feel like we need more information before we all grab our pitchforks.

Re: "It's the (Backblaze) restores that fail."

#13
FYI I left Backblaze for Crashplan for the same reasons.

I believe Blackblaze also removes the backup after some number of hours, so if you don't download the backup by then, you're in big trouble.

Crashplan also allows external and network drives to be backed up.

Re: "It's the (Backblaze) restores that fail."

#14

This is a little disconcerting. I have 3 computers backed up with Backblaze. I had a successful 350 GB restore last week. I hope that wasn't an anomaly.

From what I gather, my situation may be the anomaly. Still concerning though. I'm still processing a 340 GB restore in the hopes that this one will go better. We'll see.

Your success has me hopeful!

Re: "It's the (Backblaze) restores that fail."

#15

Please don't singly use cloud backups. Your first line should be a local backup solution like a Time Capsule or other NAS device. Blind trust in a black box backup is not prudent.

For this very reason I've always backed-up to both an encrypted external HDD and another encrypted copy in the cloud.

Re: "It's the (Backblaze) restores that fail."

#16
post #8

Wired or wireless connection? I would always do bit sensitive data over a wired connection. This goes without saying.

Wired connection during both attempts (even on the laptop). But you're right and it does go without saying.

No it doesn't. Especially when it comes to HTTPS.

Re: "It's the (Backblaze) restores that fail."

#17

FYI I left Backblaze for Crashplan for the same reasons. I believe Blackblaze also removes the backup after some number of hours, so if you don't download the backup by then, you're in big trouble. Crashplan also allows external and network drives to be backed up.

Could you elaborate? Same reasons in that you had slow or broken restorations?

Also curious: have you had to restore with CrashPlan, and if so, how has that process differed?

Re: "It's the (Backblaze) restores that fail."

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wired connection during both attempts (even on the laptop). But you're right and it does go without saying.

No it doesn't. Especially when it comes to HTTPS.

"No it doesn't" what?

That it's ok to trust https to keep a huge download completely error free?

Re: "It's the (Backblaze) restores that fail."

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct. They appear to basically zip the data using 7-zip and then transfer it, but I'm not sure what sort of hashing/checking they do to make sure the file makes it to me successfully. Very possible that the next time I download the 6GB file it will work. But given how long it takes to do that, 1) I'd like to know it will work and 2) tougher for me to consider utilizing the free option of doing this for all ~400 GB…

Coming from working in IT support, it's frustrating to me that you've made a big public ordeal over something that, firstly was fixed by rebooting your PC, and secondly you haven't tried downloading the file a second time. I'm not necessarily defending Backblaze here, but posting this when it doesn't work quite right the first time seems a bit harsh. I feel like we need more information before we all grab our pitchfo…

There is no excuse for independent download software to fail because chrome is running, I don't care how fixed it is by a reboot.

Re: "It's the (Backblaze) restores that fail."

#20
Their selling point is "Unlimited data backup for your Mac or PC, just $5/month." If you're in tech that should tell you it's not for storing "mission critical data" (paraphrasing the blogpost).

For $5/month you can also not expect round the clock, seven days a week personal attention.

Don't get me wrong, Backblaze seems like a kickass service for an off-site backup of my personal data.

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